Equipment for manufacturing box parts



Nam 27, 192. 11,693,521

H. E. LEASH EQUIPMENT FOR MANUFACTURING BOX PARTS Filed Jan 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 27, 1928.

H. E LEASE- I EQUIPMENT FOR MANUFACTURING BOX PARTS Filed Jan. 26, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 75279672527? fi mfff ii plication and illustrate a Patented Nov. 27, 1928.

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HOMER E. LEASH, OF NILES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 INTERNATIONAL WOOD PRODUCTS 00., OF NILES, CALIFORNIA, A. COBIPOR'ATIQN OF DELAXVARE.

nonrrlunnr non mnnuracrnarns BOX raars.

Application filed January 26, 1925. Serial No. 4,705.

My invention relates to improvements in equipment for manufacturing box parts, and is of particular service in cutting oii or trimming parts which are intended to be of like size.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an equipment for rapidly, accurately, economically and eiiiciently producing box'parts of like size. Further objects of the invention are to provide an arrangement for handling the material before, while, and after passing through the appara tus in as eiiicient manner as possible so as to reduce to a minimum the expense of handling and storing; to provide an equipment for the purpose described which shall be simple in design, economical to manufacture and inexpensive to operate and maintain, and in general to provide an improved equipment of the character referred to.

In the drawings which accompany this an} ment of my invention,

Fig. 1. is a plan view of the empty crate or carrier for holding the parts while they are being operated upon.

Fig. 2 is a View similarto Fig. 1, but showing the carrier or crate charged with raw material.

Fig. .8 isan end elevation of the carrier shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4c is a perspective view of a partition member employed to it the crate or carrier for short boards.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation'of the organized apparatus.

Fig. 6 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of one of the crates or carriers in this instance showing the full set of completed parts supported therein, and

Fig. 8 is a section taken onthe line 88 of Fig. 7. l y

In constructing large numbers of wooden boxes, the dimensions of which are relatively small, it is desirable to ship the be making material to the assembly point in as long lengths as practicable from the box shook makers viewpoint.

Also, it will be understood that most wooden boxes which act as shipping containers are printed or branded on the exterior to designate the character and source preferred embodiof the contents. VJhere the box parts are quite small, it will be readily understood that the labor and expense of printing the required markings on the-box parts is materially reduced if a single board containin a pluarlity ofboz; parts may be operated upon by a single stroke or revolution of the printing or branding apparatus.

Furthermore, since it is often desirable to vary or control slightly, the actual length or other dimensions of the boX parts, it is a matter of some convenience to efiect such control over the finished lengths at the point where the boxes are to be assembled, rather than at a point possibly thousands of miles away where the box shocks or board lengths are sawn out of the raw lumber. These are some of the reasons Why it is desirable to perform the final trimming or severing operations upon the box parts at the assembly point, and just before the boxes are nailed together.

This trimming or severing operation is frequently termed an equalizing operation, and the equipment for effecting the same is often styled an equalizer.

Referring to the drawings, in Fig. 1 I have illustrated a crate or carrier which I employ for holding, supporting and positioning a large number of the boX boards at one time, said boards being positioned in said crate on edge with their long edges horizontal, and in the form of a pack or deck. To this end the crate or carrier comprises a series of longitudinally arranged support ing angle iron members 10, 11,12, 13, 14 and 15, said angle irons being riveted to and connected together by a pair of end cross-bars 16 and 17 and an intermediate cross-barlS. The ends of said cross-bars are bent up for example as shown at 19 in Fig. 3, at right angles, to which bent up ends there are'secured rectangular wooden longitudinal bars 20 and 21, which form stops or guides for positioning or locating the boards in the crate or carrier. Said stop members 20 and 21 are preferably secured to the upright portions 19 by means of machine screws 22. the heads of which are countersunk as shown.

The deck or pack of boards is held in position by a series of post angles as 211323, the lower ends of which are bent at right angles and secured to the cross-bars 16 and 17 by rivets as at at and-in alignment with the various supporting longitudinals 10 to 15 inclusive. Adjacent post angles are secured together or coupled at their upper ends by strap members 25 and rivets as at 26, and to the middle parts of said yoke straps 25 there are riveted plate springs 27, the lower ends of which are curved as shown best in S at 28 to engage the end boards of the deck and take up any slack which may be present, thereby insuring that the entire series of boards will be securely held during the entire sawing operation.

The sawing apparatus is mounted upon a rigid bed or table embodying sturdy legs 29 and 30 and stout longitudinal frame members 31 and 32 and cross frame members On the frame member 81, there is secured by a series of screws as at 34- a horizontal track bar 35 the upper longitudinal edge of which projects slightly above the longitudi- 'nal frame member 31 so that the cross-bars 16, 17 and 18 of the carrier will slide on the metal surface of the track bar 35, rather than upon the surface of the longitudinal frame member 31. Similarly on the longitudinal frame member 8../, there is secured by means of screws 36 a track member which takes the form of a horizontal length of angle iron 37, the lower flange of which acts as a track for the opposite ends of the crate bars 16, 17 and 18.

' In order to prevent side movements of the crate while it is traveling along the tracks 35 and 37, I secure to one of the sides of the crate and preferably to the bent up ends 19 of the cross-bars 16, 17 and 18, small guide plates or straps 38, the upper ends of which are riveted as at 39 to the upper ends of the parts 20, while the lower ends as shown at 40 are offset from the parts 20 a sufficient distance to slidingly receive the upwardly projecting vertical. flange all of the angle iron track member 37.

The saws 42, 413, 14. and 4-5 are of the circular type mounted upon a horizontal shaft 16. Said shaft 46, mounted in suitable bearings (not shown) is driven at high speed by a belt 17, (see 5). The described outfit being arranged to handle for its maximum capacity boards from each of which three box parts of like size may be out, the saws are four in number and are spaced equal dis tances apart, the spacing being equal to the length of box part which is desired. It will be observed by reference to Figs. 6 and 7 that the end'saws 12 and 15 serve to trim off the ends 18 and 19, the raw boards: being made long enough to permit such trimming, so that if there should :be any slight variation in the length of the boards, such variation will be of no effect on the length of the final product. It will also be observed that the inside surfaces of the stop bars 20 and '21 are so spaced that the saws 42 and 1-23 do not contact with said bars during the sawing operation. This spacingclearance may be secured by initially making the bars 20 and 21 slightly "bicker than required, and subsecuiently s avin them off by passing the crate or bash t unucr the saws, the outer saws 1'2 and 15 being at that particular time spaced slightly further away from each other along the shaft 16 than the normal operating spacing.

It will be observed that the shaftdti is located above the path of the the saws being driven in a direction tend to lift the material out of the tray. order to counteract any possible vndency of the parts to rise while being engaged by the saws, I prefer to use a set of shoes or guard members as at 51, which comprise plates horizontally disposed between the adjacent saws and set slightly above the path of the top edges of the boards 50 as they are propelled through the sawing apparatus, Said guard plates 51are bolted to the horizontal lower ends 52 of small angular brackets 53. Said brackets 58 are secured by screws to a bar or plate 5%l extending horizontally across the path of the tray and secured to the upper end of an upstanding bracaet 55, which bolted to the top of one of the cross frame members 33 of the base.

From inspection of Figs. 5, 6 and 7, the operation of the equipment willbe readily understood.

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Each of the box parts being supported on the upper edges of the vertical flanges of the longitudinal angle bars constituting the bottom of the tray or baslze there is obviously, sufficient distance between the upper surface of the cross-bars 16, 17 and 18 to provide the necessary clearance for the undersides of the saws after 'ing through the material. Since each board is simultaneously sawn into three actual pieces, there is virtually no possibility of errors in dimensions if the apparatus initially is properly adj ustcd and if the boards are initially of approximately the right length. Under ordinary circumstances if a board can be introduced into the crate between the stop bars 20 and 21, it will be cutaccurately into its several parts of ii to size if it is not shorter than the actual spacing of said bars 20 and 21 by an amount not exceeding double the thickness of the saw.

In certain cases, the raw material from which the boards are sawn at the board mill consists of offal or short ends which will not permit of the production of boards as long as those shown in Figs. 6 and T, and in such cases in order to prevent discarding of valuable lumber, the mill supplies hearts from which two box parts can-be produced instead of three. In order to utilize the described equipment for operating upon such shorter lengths of material, I employ a removable stop bar 5'7. Said special stop bar 5'? comprises a board of rectangular tray or basket, I

7 cross-section having in its underside a groove 58 arranged to fit over and receive the vertical flange 59 of the bottom rail 14 and having in each of its ends vertically extending grooves as at 60 for fitting and receiving the inwardly extending flanges of the cone sponding post angles 23. Such construction enables the removable stop bar 57 to be slipped into or out of its place in the tray when occasion requires, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 showing a tray equipped with such a removable stop bar. Thus, it is not necessary to provide special trays for the short pieces of raw material, and hence, the expense of building and subsequently storing such special trays is avoided.

The advantages of my improved"equalizing equipment will be apparent to the person skilled in this art. In addition to the rapidity and economy with which large quantities of box parts can be produced, the handling of the raw material and also the finished material is enormously facilitated, since there is no need to pile or unpile the raw unfinished material a number of times as is the case where the boards and completed box parts have to be handled individually.

In the present apparatus, a single handling comprising the insertion of the raw material into the trays is-the only handling operation performed upon the individual pieces. Mixture of different sizes is obviously impossible since all pieces in a single tray are of like dimensions.

The described details of construction and operation being descriptive of merely one application of my invention the scope of the same should be determined by reference to the appended claims, said claims being construed as broadly as possible, consistent with .the state of the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In box making equipment for producing a plurality of comparatively short length box parts of like size from a corresponding plurality of long length pieces of box material, the combination of a circular saw, means for rotating said saw, a supporting frame, a tray removably mounted on said frame for holding a plurality of lengths of material in packed position for being cut by said saw, said tray including side members for aligning the ends of the long piecesof material in the tray, and a member adapted to be removably mounted in said tray intermediate said side members for adapting said tray to receive and align the ends of relatively short lengths of'material.

2. A tray for use substantially as described in connection with a sawing machine and comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending supporting members spaced apart at least a distance sufficient to permit the box plurality of long length pieces of box mapassage of a saw blade therebetween, upwardly extending stops at opposite ends of each of said supporting members, means on one of the end stops of each of said supporting members for urging material packed therebetween towards the opposite stops, a plurality of binding members arranged transversely of said longitudinal supporting members and secured thereto so as to maintain the latter in said spaced relation, means supported by said binding members for aligning the ends of said strips of material, and a removably mounted longitudinally extending member for optionally adapting said tray for use with different lengths of material.

3. In box making equipment for producing a plurality of comparatively short length box parts of like size from a corresponding plurality of long length pieces of box material, the combination of a supporting frame, a saw mounted on said frame for dividing the long pieces of box material, a tray for holding said plurality of long length pieces in packed position for facilitating cutting thereof by said saw, said tray having end members between which the pieces are packed and said end members being provided with slots for permitting passage of the saw therethrough, independent means on opposite sides of the slot in one of saidend members for resiliently urging the pieces toward the other end of the tray and for clamping the pieces therein, Said independent means being respectively operative to retain the short lengths on opposite sides of the slot, formed by the sawing operation, in packed position in the tray, and means on said frame for slidably supporting and guiding said tray so as to facilitate movement of the latter past the saw to effect the sawing operation.

4. In box making equipment for producing a plurality of comparatively short length parts of like size from a corresponding terial, the combination of a supporting frame, a saw mounted on said frame, a tray for holding a plurality of lengths of material in packed position for being cut by said saw, said tray including means operative to clamp the long length pieces in the tray and also operative to clamp the short pieces, formed by the sawing operation, in the tray, and means on said supporting frame for slidably receiving said tray so as to permit sliding of the tray past the saw to effect the sawing operation, said tray being readily removable from said supporting means, thereby to permit the tray to be used for conveying the box parts from the sawing machine to the desired place.

HOMER E. LEASH. 

